History of MoldovaThe history of Moldova can be traced to the 1350s, when the Principality of Moldavia, the medieval precursor of modern Moldova and Romania, was founded. The principality was a vassal of the Ottoman Empire from 1538 until the 19th century. In 1812, following one of several Russian-Turkish wars, the eastern half of the principality, Bessarabia, was annexed by the Russian Empire. In 1918, Bessarabia briefly became independent as the Moldavian Democratic Republic and, following the decision of the Parliament (Sfatul Țării), united with Romania.
Ecclesiastical provinceAn ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian Churches with traditional hierarchical structure, including Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity. In general, an ecclesiastical province consists of several dioceses (or eparchies), one of them being the archdiocese (or archeparchy), headed by a metropolitan bishop or archbishop who has ecclesiastical jurisdiction over all other bishops of the province. In the Greco-Roman world, ecclesia (ἐκκλησία; ecclesia) was used to refer to a lawful assembly, or a called legislative body.
Metropolitan bishopIn Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan (alternative obsolete form: metropolite), pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis. Originally, the term referred to the bishop of the chief city of a historical Roman province, whose authority in relation to the other bishops of the province was recognized by the First Council of Nicaea (AD 325). The bishop of the provincial capital, the metropolitan, enjoyed certain rights over other bishops in the province, later called "suffragan bishops".
SecuritateThe Securitate (sekuriˈtate, Romanian for security) was the popular term for the Departamentul Securității Statului (Department of State Security), the secret police agency of the Socialist Republic of Romania. Previously, before the communist regime, Romanian secret police was called Siguranța Statului. It was founded on 30 August 1948, with help and direction from the Soviet MGB. Following the overthrow of Nicolae Ceaușescu in 1989, the new authorities assigned the various intelligence tasks of the DSS to new institutions.
Church SlavonicChurch Slavonic, also known as Church Slavic, New Church Slavonic, New Church Slavic or just Slavonic (as it was called by its native speakers), is the conservative Slavic liturgical language used by the Eastern Orthodox Church in Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Serbia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Slovenia and Croatia. The language appears also in the services of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese, and occasionally in the services of the Orthodox Church in America.
TimișoaraTimișoara (UKˌtɪmɪˈʃwɑːrə, USˌtiːmiː-, timiˈșoara; Temeswar, also Temeschwar or Temeschburg; Temesvár; Temišvar; see other names) is the capital city of Timiș County and the main economic, social and cultural centre in Western Romania. Located on the Bega River, Timișoara is considered the informal capital city of the historical Banat. From 1848 to 1860 it was the capital of the Serbian Vojvodina and the Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar. With 250,849 inhabitants at the 2021 census, Timișoara is the country's fifth most populous city.
BukovinaBukovina is a historical region, variously described as part of either Central or Eastern Europe (or both). The region is located on the northern slopes of the central Eastern Carpathians and the adjoining plains, today divided between Romania and Ukraine. Inhabited by many cultures and peoples, settled by both Ukrainians (Ruthenians) and Romanians (Moldavians), it became part of the Kievan Rus' and Pechenegs' territory early on during the 10th century. The region has been sparsely populated since the Paleolithic.
PatriarchatePatriarchate (πατριαρχεῖον, patriarcheîon) is an ecclesiological term in Christianity, designating the office and jurisdiction of an ecclesiastical patriarch. According to Christian tradition three patriarchates were established by the apostles as apostolic sees in the 1st century: Rome, Antioch, and Alexandria. Constantinople was added in the 4th century and Jerusalem in the 5th century. Eventually, together, these five were recognised as the pentarchy by the Council of Ephesus in 431.
Carol II of RomaniaCarol II ( 4 April 1953) was the King of Romania from 8 June 1930 until his forced abdication on 6 September 1940. As the eldest son of Ferdinand I, he became crown prince upon the death of his grand-uncle, King Carol I, in 1914. He was the first of the Hohenzollern kings of Romania to be born in the country; both of his predecessors had been born in Germany and came to Romania only as adults. As such, he was the first member of the Romanian branch of the Hohenzollerns who spoke Romanian as his first language, and was also the first member of the royal family to be raised in the Orthodox faith.
SibiuSibiu (si:ˈbju: , siˈbiw, Hermannstadt ˈhɛʁmanʃtat, Cibinium, Transylvanian Saxon: Härmeschtat or Hermestatt, Nagyszeben ˈnɒt͡sːɛbɛn) is a middle-sized, well-preserved fortified medieval town in central Romania, situated in the historical region of Transylvania (Transilvania, Siebenbürgen or Transsilvanien). Located some north-west of Bucharest, the town straddles the Cibin River, a tributary of the river Olt.